Charlie Gasparino on CNBC

Boy, do I wish Fox Business News was on Comcast cable. However, there are a few benefits to remaining a viewer of CNBC.

For instance, yesterday, the network featured an on-air shouting match between two of their guest commentators which was so vociferous that the anchor ended the segment early by cutting Charlie Gasparino's microphone.

I saw this live, finding it very funny, and would have let it go at that. Aside from emailing Alan Murray to relate Gasparino's behavior, since Murray had, back when he was still a frequent guest on CNBC, been the frequent victim of Gasparino's unbridled outbursts.

However, by late afternoon, I had at least half a dozen visits to this blog from searches for topics like,

"bill griffith goes off on charlie gasparino."

So, better late than never.

The topic was Vikram Pandit's recent choice as Citigroup's new CEO, about which I have written here and here. The guests were Dennis Kneale, Managing Editor of Forbes, Herb Greenberg of Marketwatch, a Dow Jones subsidiary, and Gasparino. This took place on the midday program hosted by Bill Griffith.

As they commented, initially in turn, on Pandit and Citigroup, Kneale and Greenberg were largely negative on Citi and Pandit, but not overly so. Gasparino ripped into the firm's cost structure and its architect, Sandy Weill.

For the record, I think Gasparino's points were on target.

When Greenberg opined that Citi wasn't that top-heavy with employees, Gasparino shot back that Citigroup had,

'three people most places where one would do,'

or words to that effect. Greenberg called Charlie on this rather senseless bit of hyperbole, and Gasparino shot back.

At this point, Kneale tried to chime in, while Greenberg was still attempting to rebut Gasparino. The television screen looked like a fight on the Brady Bunch, with three heads all squawking, but no intelligible words discernible amongst the three shouting heads.

After about fifteen seconds of this, the camera went back to a visibly angered Bill Griffith, and silence. Then Griffith said something like,

'We love him, but sometimes, you have to cut off Charlie Gasparino's mike.'

Griffith then very energetically twisted and crumpled the piece of paper in his hand, continuing to frown and visually express heated anger.

All in all, a pretty humorous episode as CNBC goes all out to defend against the incursions of Fox's new business channel.

Roger Ailes, if you're out there and ever read this.....

please get FBN on Comcast......quick!